I’m Peter McMillan. Enjoying retirement since 2019. Here you will find content about family, travel, track days, autocross, cycling, surfing, and Drupal.

By peterm95018, 22 September, 2026

Here’s an interesting story about a last minute change that never felt like a typo that had me confused while working on the 1956 Mille Miglia project. 

Using www.racingspirrscars.com as a semi-official source, shows car 33 as a Renault 4CV. 

Our photo does not match. So off to AI and image searching to see if we can turn up some information. Clearly the image is not a Renault. It is a Fiat-Abarth 750 GT Zagato. 

From Google search:

By peterm95018, 8 September, 2026

When the Powerwalls Went to Zero: Turning a Tesla Recall Into a Home-Energy Upgrade

On September 2, 2026, we woke up to an unwelcome message in the Tesla app:

“Powerwall Disabled — Your Powerwall will be replaced.”

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By peterm95018, 25 July, 2026

When I started RaceCoach, my goal was simple: make better use of the telemetry I was already collecting during autocross.

Like many drivers, I was recording every run with RaceChrono Pro, a RaceBox GPS, and OBD data. I had plenty of information, but only a few minutes between runs to decide what to change. Looking at graphs and numbers wasn’t helping me answer the most important question:

What should I do differently on my next run?

That question has gradually changed the entire direction of the project.

The Original Idea

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By peterm95018, 13 July, 2026

Progress at the PCA Zone 7 Autocross Weekend

I asked ChatGPT to summarize the results of the weekend as it related to the programming work we’re doing in RaceCoach.

The July 11–12, 2026 PCA autocross weekend at Salinas provided a useful test of both my driving and the RaceCoach analysis workflow I have been developing.

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By peterm95018, 4 July, 2026

RaceCoach

This is an early draft of the project description. It has morphed during development so some of the points below have been altered.

RaceCoach started off as a personal autocross telemetry and coaching project built to help me get faster between runs. What is has changed into is a coaching engine that does this:

Observe → Diagnose → Coach → Improve

The goal is simple: after each run, RaceCoach should answer one question:

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By peterm95018, 13 April, 2026

Well, it is April 2026. Here’s a summary of the events that have transpired.

By peterm95018, 4 March, 2026

2026

  • 3/9/26 Laguna Seca GGLC 4 20 min sessions
  • 4/6/26 Sonoma GGLC 4 20 min sessions (PB 1:59.07)

2022 Days (7)

  • 3/5-6/22 Thunderhill East 
  • 4/12/22 Sonoma Raceway
  • 5/25/22 Laguna Seca 
  • 5/26/22 Laguna Seca
  • 8/26/22 Sonoma
  • 9/28/22 Lagua Seca (PB 1:47.20)

 

2021 Days (11)

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By peterm95018, 31 December, 2025

After hemming and hawing and interating with ChatGPT on various models, I bought a Specialized Levo Comp Alloy gen 3. Cycle sport had a few left in their inventory and had dropped the price to about half of MSRP and built it with an upgraded drivetrain and brakes.

I took it out for its maiden voyage and am continuing to study all its settings and setup options.

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